Bowhunters Roundtable – Day 2

Day 2 of the Bowhunters Roundtable, held at PASA Park in scenic Barry, Illinois, brought a host of new product manufacturers with new goodies for us to play around with. The amount of innovation that each of these companies bring to the table each year is simply astounding. From new electronics advances in scent control, clothing materials and broadhead design there’s never a shortage of items that can help you increase your chances for success come fall. Here’s a few highlights from Day 2 of this event.

We started our day off visiting with Aaron McCale from Source Outdoor Group who gave us a very in depth look at the Day 6 Plotwatcher Pro. Admittedly, I had seen the product before but never paid too much attention to it. After getting a full look at the product and seeing how the time lapse photography feature can provide up to date scouting information over a much larger area than a standard trail cam can cover, I can certainly see how this can be a very beneficial tool for hunters.

The Plotwatcher Pro from Day 6 Outdoors comes with a standard lens, but does have both a zoom lens and a wide angle lens available as additional accessories.

Here Todd Graf watches a short time lapse video that was captured by a Plotwatcher Pro.

Later in the morning we had the opportunity to fling a few arrows out of the new Bowtech Insanity CPX, which was definitely a smooth shooter. With an IBO of 355 fps this bow smokes. The model we tested was only a 50 lb draw weight, but we certainly had a blast shooting down range at 100 yards at the GlenDel buck that was setup for us. Of course I outshot Todd, but that’s nothing new.

Terry Rohm from Tink’s was also on hand to give us a look at their new B-Tech scent elimination products. Available in a laundry detergent, hair & body wash and of course field sprays, B-Tech features a patented Byotrol technology which is proven to eliminate the bacteria that causes human odor. My personal favorite product was the field spray in the can that can be sprayed at any angle – even upside down. Having used this product in the field, I can atest that it’s a great product for being able to spray hard to reach areas like your back or the bottoms of your boots.

Terry Rohm explaning the benefits of Byotrol technology, which is found in the B-Tech scent eliminators.

Tink’s has everytying you need to stay scent free while in the woods.

We also caught up with Curt Price from Lumenok, who showed us a very helpful tip sheet that you can find at all Lumenok dealers. This visual aid shows you easy ways to troubleshoot any issues you may have with your lighted nocks, which are generally caused by improper arrow preparation. He also showed us the new lighted G nock, which works with your new Injexion micro diameter arrows from Easton.

Curt Price explaining the various issues with improper arrow preparation and how to easily resolve them.

The new lighted G nock from Lumenok works with Easton Injexion arrow shafts.

Alex Gyllstrom from Scent-Lok took some time to go over their new Carbon-Alloy technology with us. This new scent control technology pairs the proven activated carbon with Zeolite, which helps control some of the smallest scent molecules that may not be adsorbed by the carbon alone. The new Carbon-Alloy technology can be found in garments such as the new Rampage windproof fleece.

Alex Gyllstrom of Scent-Lok explains the benefits of the new Carbon-Alloy technology.

In the quiver department we got an in-depth look at the Chameleon from Bohning. For those who haven’t seen this quiver already, the unique feature is that you can switch a small plate on the hood from black to just about any camo you want in order to match your bow. So when you change bows next year you won’t need to buy a whole new quiver if you want your accessories to match. The Chameleon is 100% designed, engineered and made right here in the USA.

When it comes to broadeads, no doubt that Rage is a household name. For 2012 they have expanded their offerings to address some of the concerns and wants of their loyal customer base. For those who worried about blade deployment, either in quiver or in flight, they now offer a locking collar that provides 200% more strength at holding the blades closed, yet easily slides back upon impact to provide full blade deployment. The Shock Collars come with all new packages of broadheads, or can be purchased separately to retrofit heads you may already have at home.

Also new for 2012 is the Rage Xtreme, which lives up to it’s name with a massive 2.3 inch cutting diameter. The new Xtreme also features a larger blade on the tip of the ferrule, to assist with better penetration.

The standard Rage broadhead (top) now features a Shock Collar to hold the blades in place more security, while the Rage Xtreme (bottom) features a devastating 2.3 inch cutting diameter.

The folks at Wildgame Innovations showed us a new trail camera that’s coming out soon called the Lights Out. This no-glow camera features an easy to access LED display on the outside of the camera, and a very unique battery compartment. The two tubes you see on either side of the Lights Out hold 6 AA batteries, which provide extremely long battery life. The tubes also pivot backwards to help the camera fit more snugly onto smaller diameter trees, fence posts, or wherever you may need to mount it.

The unique design of the Lights Out camera from Wildgame Innovations uses two separate tubes to hold 12 AA batteries.

Last but certainly not least we had an opportunity to talk with Randy Birdsong with Flextone Game calls. Randy showed us the new Thunder Chicken 1/4 strut jake decoy. This decoy is ultra small and compact, which makes it pefect for guys who like to run and gun while chasing turkeys. It comes with a synthetic fan, or can be adapted to use your own real fan for the ultimate in life-like reality. Admittedly I’m not much of a turkey hunter, but this looked like a great decoy to me.

Randy Birdsong shows off the new Thunder Chicken turkey decoy from Flextone.

After we wrapped up the day and said our goodbyes, we packed up and drove 5 hours North so we could get back to real work today! As always, it was great seeing those who already knew, and great to meet a lot of new folks as well. Thanks again to Media Direct for putting on such a great event – we’re already looking forward to next year!